calorie values from a restaurant?

icimani
icimani Posts: 1,454 Member
edited December 2024 in Food and Nutrition
I just ate lunch at a very nice river-side local restaurant. It's a really nice day here in upstate NY and it was really lovely sitting beside the river chatting with a friend.

How do you figure out how many calories are in a restaurant dish when there are none listed on their menue, and nothing close in the MFP data base? I had a lunch special that was put together by the chef, and it's not a chain so there are no calorie values on anything. I even asked the waitress to ask the chef and they had no idea either. The waitress joked and said to under-estimate it. (ummm...no! lol)

The dish I had was shrimp and lobster in a marinara base on flatbread, served with an arugala salad wth diced tomatoes and red onions with a balsalmic/olive oil vinegarette. It was delicious, and it was an appetizer so the portion was decent. I can make a decent guess on the salad, but how do I figure out the main dish?

Replies

  • kikicooks
    kikicooks Posts: 1,079 Member
    The best you can do is just estimate each item. You will never know for sure so do your best guess on each item. Don't stress over it, one meal of estimating under or over won't hurt you for the week.
  • tinad120
    tinad120 Posts: 267 Member
    I usually try to find the closest thing in the database...and then I'll add more in quick calories to be conservative.
  • janelleross
    janelleross Posts: 61 Member
    I would just try to estmate the calories separately for the shrimp, lobster, marinara sauce and flatbread. You'll just have to make your best educated guess. It sounds like it was a fairly healthy lunch, and you said the portion size was not gigantic - so, I'm guessing it wasn't bad on the calories at all!
  • kristen6022
    kristen6022 Posts: 1,923 Member
    I'm no expert, but I'd say 150 calorie for the salad/dressing and 250-300 for the Flatbread. They sound amazing and very healthy! It's a good estimation. I'd try and get in a bit more exercise today to make up for it or do more tomorrow...
  • dvelocity
    dvelocity Posts: 309 Member
    I would guesstimate by piecing it out.
    Shrimp I guesss an ounce
    Lobster - maybe one
    Faltbread - hmm what size
    marinare 1/4 cup?

    Etc.......

    It also helps if I photo the item so that when I have more time I can better estimate. Sometime my memory will forget the size of items.
  • jealous_loser
    jealous_loser Posts: 395
    I just take each part and log it like I would for a meal

    Lobster
    Shrimp
    Marinara
    ...

    When in doubt, over estimate. It's an art I suppose. One day won't hurt.
  • icimani
    icimani Posts: 1,454 Member
    Thanks guys.

    What I decided on was to choose the Red Lobster - Lobster Pizza and figure that's pretty close. Although I would guess that the local chef's version is a lot healthier than Red Lobster's!

    Lobster Pizza ~240 cals
    Arugula Salad ~120 cals
    Margarita ~250 cals

    total: ~610

    Even with the Margarita, not a bad lunch. And today is one of my strong days for working out (treadmill, lower body weights and swimming) which usually burns off about 700 cals.
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